The nightmare that was the RMA process of my DirectCU II HD7870

[Semper]

Inb4: mods, please move if you feel I picked the wrong section. It could fit into three, so far as I can tell, here, General discussion, or off-topic. I just picked one

 

-- I am writing this topic here for posterity, so that I may link people to the story and discussion of why I don't recommend ASUS when it comes to GPU's--

 

Wall of text incoming!

 

The backstory:

 

April of this year (2014) my GPU died. The card was slightly over two years old, had never seen an overclock (software or BIOS) beyond it's factory-overclock specifications, and at the time it died, was under low stress... watching a lynda.com video, and having Notepad++ open (dual monitor - just to give it every chance I can). The card never lived a high stress life, was never used for crypto-mining, was never continually under stress for days at a time, and was well maintained, very minimal dust buildup. I understand that hardware is a matter of "when", not "if" when it comes to failure. I accepted this when I purchased my hardware, and assembled my computer. This card was under warranty when it failed, however, and I expected much more from Asus.

 

The problem:

 

Notice that I said April earlier, correct? It's now October. October 21, to be exact. My card died on the evening of April 8. I received my RMA card about a half an hour ago. Slightly over six months is what it took to get this card replaced. That in and of itself is completely unacceptable, but there's a story to it, that makes it even that much more unacceptable. I contacted asus support that night (via e-mail/RMA submittal form) to begin the RMA process. Being the evening, I knew their support staff wouldn't be available, Being a thursday that it died on, I also wouldn't be surprised it it wouldn't be until the following Monday that I heard from them. Friday passed, Saturday passed, Sunday passed, Monday came and went, Tuesday passed by, nothing. So, I contacted asus via phone. After explaining my situation, giving them my case number, and being told to "please hold while I check the status" while listening to some god-awful elevator music, the line goes dead. I'm disconnected from the support rep. I was talking to (about a half an hour into the process by now). Moderately aggrivated, I call back. Identical story. already not happy, but I left it alone for the day as I had other things to tend to. A few weeks passed and I had forgotten about it. Cleaning out my desk, however, reminded me of it when I came across the card tucked away in it's original box. So, I tried again.

 

Same as last time, I started with an e-mail (RMA submittal form). A week passed with nothing from asus yet again. I called, again, got a hold of a rep, explained all the events up to this point, and very clearly stated that I'd be taking it up with the BBB if my issue was not resolved (or rather - the process was not set in motion) that day. Again I was put on hold while the rep did... lord knows what... some time later, he appeared back in the conversation and attempted to tell me that my card was out of warranty. After some back-and-forth about the purchase date, which I had documentation of, I requested to be pushed up to a manager. He tried every trick in the book to deny me access to a manager, and refused to give me his name (to this day I still don't know it). I was finally pushed through to a manager, again, explained my situation, and again, had to threaten them with the BBB. He also tried to tell me that I was out of warranty. upon explaining, yet again, that I can provide proof of purchase, and documentation that I am within my 36 months of warranty, he finally agreed to "fast-track" my RMA process. I got an RMA submittal confirmation email, so I called it a day there, frustrated beyond my wits end. A few days passed, and I hadn't got the RMA approval e-mail with the how-to's and necessary steps to get my card fixed. Again, because of life, the card was forgotten about, until about two weeks ago when I was discussing Asus cards with a member on this forum.

 

Third time around, I'll spare you the details. Same process: email, phone, manager. The difference: I submitted a complaint with the BBB. This time I "magically" got an approval for my RMA. I was unhappy, but willing to pay the one-way freight that asus wasn't willing to pay. $37 to ship it standard mail.

Shipped the card out October 6 (a Monday) again, refer to the date of post, October 21. a 15-day process from the point that the card was no longer in my hands. In a system that's used for part of my livelihood, this is an intolerable downtime (granted, this doesn't apply to me as I had to replace the card when the other one died).

 

The resolution: 

 

Upon receiving my package today, I noticed that the outer box was not large enough to contain the box inside, with which my card was contained inside. the top was bulging, and the tape was partially torn. The box didn't show any signs of major mistreatment, but it's sufficiently banged up to cause some concern. The box inside was packaged with a single layer of bubble wrap around it, and the card was inside of that box in a ESD protective bag. You could easily fit two cards in this box, and there was no other padding outside of the bag. Which means, yes, the card was left to flop around as it pleased. Very unhappy with the packaging, and not receiving my RMA card in the same quality of packaging that I sent it to them in (I.E. the original box), I pulled the card out to inspect it for damage. I immediately notice that this card isn't the one that I sent them. I got back a card that appears to be refurbished, and in a worse visual and physical condition than the one that I sent them. Both the rad and the heatsink have dust buildup on them, the output shield is discolored (as if heated) and bent (and re-bent back into shape - possible explanation of the discoloration?) the fans have some scratching on them, and the shroud has some scratches and nicks on it. The serial number is also different, and the sticker appears to be covered in some type of grease or oil. The heatsink mounting points on the back of the card are also caked with dust and have grease either mistakenly, or haphazardly smeared on them which also extends on to the PCB. The PCI-E pins also appear to have some superficial damage. Unsure of if this damage will cause a failure. I had plans to resell this card... but in this type of condition it will be an as-is item, and it won't be worth the shipping cost to send it back to Asus again.

 

---Update on the card can be found here, or on post #17 by scrolling down.---

 

EDIT:

I also forgot to include commentary about how much of a joke that the RMA completion email was.

Had the card been lost in transit and/or never delivered, I would not have been able to dispute it.

[H4X3R]

Lel, Typical asus support. its getting much worse

[Interfectorem]

I've heard of shit customer support that Asus has. I really hope that my Asus motherboard never fails on me. It's really good that you shed light on this matter, even if it's been heard before, it's good to have detailed personal experiences.

[Zyphera]

It's a good thing I have not had to RMA anything the last five years. This is just sick! I did not know that it could be this bad from Asus. I am very happy that you spread this experience around for other to read. Asus should really be ashamed of them self.

[DeViLzzz]

OP I am stuck with a psu that has a 5 year warranty.  It was a Mushkin product.  They offered me some ram as they no longer can give me a psu as they are out of them and well they expect me to pay $40+ to ship it to them.  To me this is ridiculous as I already paid $99 plus tax for the initial purchase.  If these companies want to add more to the cost of products to give us better RMA service/options then I would be all for it.  Would you pay more OP for stuff for better warranties/RMA service?

Also people pointing out one company or another uh I think we should just say that right now RMAing in it's current state stinks most of the time.  I now know if I buy something and things go wrong to not expect much to be done that might hurt the companies pocket a bit to make me happy as a customer.

[Semper]

Been very unhappy with Asus here. They were reasonably helpful when I had to RMA a motheboard in a friends build, but it wasn't the best customer service I had seen, and they took their sweet time then, too.

 

OP I am stuck with a psu that has a 5 year warranty.  It was a Mushkin product.  They offered me some ram as they no longer can give me a psu as they are out of them and well they expect me to pay $40+ to ship it to them.  To me this is ridiculous as I already paid $99 plus tax for the initial purchase.  If these companies want to add more to the cost of products to give us better RMA service/options then I would be all for it.  Would you pay more OP for stuff for better warranties/RMA service?

Very much so. I paid a little bit more for my current GPU than I would have for a 780 from any other manufacturer, but I had heard nothing but praise about EVGA's customer service. I can personally attest to this. the HDMI port on my card was DOA, contacted EVGA about it, got a reply within six hours, and had the card replaced, installed, and functioning three days later.

[Str_Mape]

I'm quite fortunate that down here most of the time the RMA process is carried out by the retailer which means they check it doesn't work send you a new one assuming of course they have stock then they deal with Asus.

[MrGoat]

Just to put in some positive vibes, I emailed EVGA support with a question at 3am on a Sunday and got a reply 5 minutes later. Love those guys.

 

Sorry to hear about that BS.

[Semper]

Just to put in some positive vibes, I emailed EVGA support with a question at 3am on a Sunday and got a reply 5 minutes later. Love those guys.

 

Sorry to hear about that BS.

Indeed. nothing but good things to say with EVGA Customer Support.

Their ACX 2.0 however... needs a bit of work... (couldn't be happier with my original ACX however)

[DaRk0]

The only thing that I had to RMA was my Obsidian 350D case, because of dead power button, but I have a friend that had to RMA couple of products. He just returned products to the store and they replaced them pretty fast (like next day fast).

[xAcid9]

Asus shitty customer service finally reach US? 

Been like that here since 3-4 years ago.

[renz62]

Just to put another positive vibe on this thread.

 

I contacted Corsair for an RMA of my K70 MX Brown with blue LEDs because a whole ton of the LEDs have been dying. I got a reply after 7 hours asking for the receipt. I gave it then he replied 5 minutes after with the details on how to pack the product and how to ship it to their Taiwan office (I'm from the Philippines and I guess it's their nearest warehouse). I put the product back in its original box and checked online for the shipping rates. I canvased UPS, DHL and FedEx for the price of shipping to Taiwan and all of them were more than about $50. So I contacted Corsair through their Live chat system to ask if they can cover shipping both ways. They happily agreed to it without asking anything else from me. They gave me a UPS shipping label and I shipped it on a Thursday. They received it on Friday with a confirmation e-mail. They e-mailed me a tracking number the on Wednesday (2 days processing, not including weekends) then I got my item back the next day, Thursday. That was a total of 7 DAYS!! And they also changed my Keyboard to the new Red LEDs but still with the MX Brown switch!

 

BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED!

I haven't experienced EVGA yet as I have never encountered a product that broke down with them.

[Semper]

I've been fortunate with all my corsair products, never had to RMA any. It's good to know that they care about their customer post-sale though. It's unfortunate that I have to be thankful/gracious that a company does as such... but none-the-less, it's nice to know I'm not just a dollar sign.

 

Unfortunately, I have a similar experience with Mad Catz and my MMO 7 (Yes, I know... believe me... I KNOW ... but they have a masterfully designed MMO mouse... if only it wasn't Mad Catz that manufactured it). I am both looking forward to, and dreading the day that my mouse dies. I want to replace it, but I have no clue what i'll replace it with, and i've been looking for well over a year.

 

One of the things I forgot to add was the RMA completion email, I added it to the OP.

[GlassBomb]

I had to RMA my G500 a few weeks back. Logitech support was flawless, anf they sent away a replacement (G502) within three days of the day I started the ticket.

But holy crap. UPS can go die. Haven't had a single delivery where I hadn't have to deal with their support.

[ERSCreeper]

Yup, only took 3 months to get my Tablet RMA right, and then they still fucked it up in the end.

[jashan987]

well my story is kinda different

my ASUS hd 7970 top stopped working no display problem (i paid 32k for the card (Indian rupees) )

so i gave it to the shop where i brought it from and he sent it for the RMA after 26 day's ASUS called back to the shop and told them that they were not able to fix the GPU and sending a check of it's current MRP 

 

so this was it and i can buy an 970 buy not even paying a single penny 

[Semper]

Quick update on the card:

 

Upon finally being able to test the card out in another system, the card was returned to me in a DOA state. The card does not appear to power up; the fans do not spin, and there is no image output. The system it was tested in has been verified in working condition with an old HD 5400 series card, as well as it's integrated GPU.

 

Upon contacting asus support and explaining the situation i successfully received an RMA approval in one go. Surprised to be honest, however, they refuse to pay two way shipping. This card simply is not worth another $37 to ship it to them for repair.

 

Due to this simply horrendous experience, this is the last asus product you will see me buy.

[blackadder]

I really hate seeing this happen. Amazon gave me good cs on a RMA they gave us the wrong box lol. I hope I don't have to RMA anything of the stuff i pc bought, I buy all online. My pc store around doesn't even have key testers .

[Mush Brain]

Oh ASUS? Yeah well their products break too easily and their support stinks... why I do not own anything from them, got burned too many times.

[Semper]

I really hate seeing this happen. Amazon gave me good cs on a RMA they gave us the wrong box lol. I hope I don't have to RMA anything of the stuff i pc bought, I buy all online. My pc store around doesn't even have key testers .

That is one of the reasons that I am a returning Amazon customer. I know full well that I can find some - probably most - of the stuff I buy cheaper, but Amazon customer service has never jaded me, and always appear to be customer-oriented. As stated above, EVGA also seems to have outstanding customer support. Buying EVGA products from Amazon appears to be a win-win for customer service.

 

Unfortunately, my card was long out of any warranty that you could expect a retailer to cover, so U was forced into dealing with Asus. I don't have a problem with technology failing. I do have a problem, however, if the item in question is still under warranty, and customers are treated in such a way as I was here. I don't fanboy any one company, I do, however, fanboy customer loyalty.